


Bad Soviet

by stranger_thanfiction



Series: Stranger Things 30 Day Challenge [17]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alexei POV, Angst, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Russians, Season 3, surprise the kgb is in hawkins, well this one hurts like a mfer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 21:03:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20103580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stranger_thanfiction/pseuds/stranger_thanfiction
Summary: He has to build a key.Not just any key, but a key that can open the barrier between two worlds.Alexei can’t help but feel like the system is rigged, that sending him to Siberia to work on a hopeless project was one way to slowly kill him.





	Bad Soviet

**Author's Note:**

> Today's prompt is Most Emotional Line? and the only more emotional than Hop's speech is Alexei's last words. I have a lot of feelings about this, for many reasons, but honestly you can just read and find out why.   
As always comments and kudos are better writing fuel than coffee, and you can always yell at me on tumblr @modernfeminismtalking. Enjoy!

He is a smart man; he studied diligently in Russia. He was very young upon completion of his  _ vyssheye,  _ his secondary education. Alexei was recruited for  Физтех, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and underwen t rigorous  academic training for six years until obtaining his degree. 

While very bright, Alexei was not the most cooperative student. An eager learner, he questioned everything. 

This made him a wonderful student and researcher, but a horrible Soviet citizen.

His skills got him his degree; his attitude got him a meeting with the KGB the morning after graduation.

He was never outright disrespectful; his Mama raised him better than that, but he was a curious person. 

Curiosity is not a blessing in Moscow. 

The decorated man in front of looked at the small scientist, and scoffed.

“This is what they bring me? A tiny man? _Yerunda_.” 

Alexei didn’t know how to respond so he sat quietly. 

The man’s comrade sized Alexei up.

“Relax, comrade, the man looks like a man of science. It’s what we need,” he responds before turning to Alexei.

“You graduated top of your class from Физтех?” 

The sharp tone causes Alexei to nod vigorously. 

“Da.”

“With a specialization in laser technology?”

“Da.”

The man nodded and looked to his comrade.

“You, _mal’chik_, are going to Siberia. Pack your belongings, you leave tomorrow.”

Alexei sits, stunned at the order, but nods in agreement. What else can he do?

He goes home and packs his small amount of belongings. He does not know what to pack to go to the tundra, so he decides to also grab a coat.

Alexei leaves the sparse parcels of food in the cabinets and ice box; whoever moves in will need it. 

Alexei phoned his Mama to tell her the news of the move; she sobbed. 

“Alyosha, you do what they say and you build what they want you to build.”

“Da, Mama, but I will be creating it.”

“Alyosha, listen to me. You are not the architect, you are the engineer. Make their plans work, Alyosha, for yourself and for your country.”

“Da, Mama, _dobroy nochi_.”

He is on the train for hours, and entertains himself by reviewing his textbooks. He does not know what this assignment will require of him, so it’s better to be prepared. 

After two hours, he’s read through everything, and looks up around the train. The small babushka in the corner fell asleep before the train let off, and the two men sat diagonally to him left a while ago for the dining car.

Alexei figures one peek won’t hurt, so he carefully pulls out his contraband comic and tucks it neatly into the pages of his textbook.

He angles his body so his back faces the window, and he pulls down the blind so there is no reflection off the pages. 

Alexei settles down to silently enjoy the adventures of the X-Men, and wonders what this trip in Siberia will bring him.

He has to build a key. 

Not just any key, but a key that can open the barrier between two worlds. 

Alexei can’t help but feel like the system is rigged, that sending him to Siberia to work on a hopeless project was one way to slowly kill him.

Doktor Romanov takes him under his wing, giving him the information they already have and allowing Alexei to fill in the blanks. 

It’s all theory, and Alexei nearly pulls his hair out preparing the trial run for _iyul_ of 1984. 

Somehow, Alexei and Romanov have the key ready in time, and their bosses appear to see the test.

It goes bad.

Romanov is strangled, right in front of his eyes, and Alexei keeps his composure in the moment quite well. 

Comrade General then informs Alexei that he is head of the project now. 

He has one year to make the key work. 

Alexei returns to his apartment close to the base, and weeps silently into his pillow, knowing his place is bugged. 

He has been given an accelerated death sentence. 

It takes Alexei one week to discover that the door between worlds is too thick here, too thick anywhere in the Soviet Union. 

Even if he made the key work, it would take years before the barrier could be broken.

He presents his findings to the Comrade General and the Colonel, who do not bat an eye at his discoveries. 

“Where do you suggest we go then, _Doktor_?”

Alexei takes a deep breath before pulling down the map.

“There are multiple places in the world where the barrier is slim. Greenwich in the United Kingdom; Montauk, New York; but the smallest one, it looks like it was just opened, is in the middle of the United States.”

Alexei emphasizes his points with pins placed at these locations on the map.

Both of his superiors look at him with disbelief. 

“And you’re sure?” the Colonel asks, waving to the pin he’s placed on the map, “this Hawkins is where it will work?”

Alexei nods. 

“My calculations are correct, and the Key is functioning properly. The only problem is, we do not have the math for a thicker door, and reconfiguring the laser would take years.”

The Colonel and Comrade General share a glance, before the latter pushes out his chair. 

“Let me make a few calls.”

It took about two months before it was announced the entire project was being moved to the United States. 

Those who protested the move were silenced. The main scientists were to enter the United States on visitation, on work visas, and to let them expire. 

There would be no need for anyone in Hawkins to know there were Russians in the area. 

It was easy enough to get into America.

He flew into New York, where a KGB officer posed as his long lost sister, fake documents and everything, from the West, and regaled the Customs agent with the story of them being separated by the dastardly Wall. 

She offered to translate for him, and Alexei smiled at the agent, thanking him for welcoming him into his amazing country. 

The man listened to Sascha’s translation and smiled before stamping his visa.

Sascha and Alexei then traveled by plane to Indianapolis, which was a big city like New York, but not as many flashing lights.

“Is all of America like this?” he asked her as the plane was landing, “all flashy?”

Sascha giggled and nodded. 

“Most cities, yes. But where we’re going? Midwest Indiana? No lights, more stars.”

They arrived by train to Hawkins. It was a very small, very sleepy town in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. 

It reminded him of home. 

Sascha lived nearby, in a little house, and informed him that she was the contact for the construction of the lab.

“It was quite easy,” she smiled, a beautiful charming smile that hid something awful, “the mayor wanted votes. We wanted land. We compromised.”

Alexei nodded, feeling uneasy next to the blonde woman. 

“So where is the lab going to be?”

Sascha pointed over to the brightly lit construction sign in the distance. 

“In plain sight. Under the shopping complex.”

He grinned, beginning to pull his documents out. 

“When do we begin?”

Alexei lived with Sascha even after the lab was completed. She claimed that it was to keep him and his lack of English from blowing their cover, but he thinks she likes him around. 

Hawkins doesn’t take well to foreigners, so he adapted to life in the house quickly. He will work for a few hours, and then catch American television when Sascha is out. 

Before he knew it, it was time to get back to work. 

The lab underneath the still constructing mall was beautiful. Brand new equipment, brand new crew, Alexei was surprised the government was ready to spend this kind of money on the possibility of new weapons. 

Because he is now both architect and engineer, Alexei spends all of his time down in the lab.

He has a bunk there, where he can shower, sleep, and eat, but he is not living. 

On the chance that the laser will work, he may get promoted to a bigger project or a new profession.

If not, he will join Romanov. It’s starting to not look like a bad option the longer the Key takes.

Finally, at the end of June, they are successful.

Both the math and Alexei are correct; he may not know it yet, but he unleashed a powerful weapon into Hawkins. 

His superiors seem content knowing that the barrier is broken for now, but they are expecting more. 

The system is still rigged, but this time, he may live to overcome it. 

Three days after his success, he is kidnapped by two Americans.

Of course.

A small _baba_ who’s screaming about _magnits_ and her car, and a fat Rambo who keeps referring to him as a vodka have him handcuffed and are trying to take him somewhere. 

He can’t really understand them, but he thinks they’re together.

Sometimes Alexei wishes he was chosen for a different vocation.

They drag him across a forest, and he’s sweaty and tired by the time they reach the convenience store.

Alexei is not positive that Sascha has noticed his absence, but Grigori definitely has. 

He drowns out his fear in cherry slurpee and allows the big man to push him into the tiny car. 

At least he’s in a convertible?

The couple, who he thinks is named Joy and Hop (are interesting names an American thing?) take him on a drive to find a man who immediately tries to attack him. 

Alexei likes this one. 

After Joy screams at the small balding man, Alexei is allowed to sit on the couch. It looks as though the man had been watching cartoons, so he tucks himself in and allows the others to argue.

The balding man, very forcefully, asks him what he wants. In Russian.

Alexei, overjoyed that he can communicate, says a cherry slurpee. 

Fat Rambo rolls his eyes and tells the man something.

“He wants to know what you are doing with the land in Hawkins,” the man says aggravatingly. 

“Cherry slurpee,” he repeats, and the man rolls his eyes to repeat it. 

“If you’re going, I’d like a Whopper,” the man adds, and the small woman says she could use some fries. 

Big man groans but he grabs the keys and leaves.

The balding man, Murray, glares at him from the kitchen, where he stands with the small woman. She is still talking about the magnets, but they are also talking about...children?

Alexei tunes it out, and continues to watch the animated bird wield the giant hammer.

He’s still handcuffed, but Alexei manages to make grabby hands at the slurpee in Fat Rambo’s hand.

Blessed nectar of the gods, until he takes a sip.

He spits the shit out. It’s strawberry. 

Murray relays the information, and the big man’s face flushes before he nearly strikes Alexei in anger. 

Maybe he should stop being an asshole, but it’s got him this far, right?

Fat Rambo’s still angry, and he throws him the keys. 

Alexei is hit with a rush of adrenaline, and he quickly unlocks the handcuffs and races out the door while the rest of them argue.

If he starts now, he might be able to reach the lab before sundown. 

He starts the engine but pauses. 

When he reaches the lab, what will happen? Will he be killed? What if Grigori finds him first?

The system’s always been rigged against him, but he’d prefer not to die at the hands of the assassin.

Alexei trudges in, and woefully explains what is going on under the Starcourt Mall. 

He explains the key and the door, and Joy and Hop look as though he has killed their puppy when he calls it the “gate.”

The two frantically called someone, but Alexei went back to watching his cartoons. 

Joy and Hop decide they need to all go back to Hawkins, so they’re all back in the convertible. 

Alexei explains how to stop the key with the two-man system, and Planck’s constant, and then Joy and Hop decide to fight. Again. 

The bickering between the two has become unbearable, but he can’t understand them, so he assumes it’s a lover’s quarrel.

Murray explodes on them, and the car is for once, silent. 

‘“What was that about?” Alexei asks, watching as the other man heaves a sigh.

“I told them they should have sex.”

Alexei glances to the two spitfires in the front, looking anywhere but each other

“They have not had sex?”

“No.”

Not a lover’s quarrel then.

After watching them for the past day, Alexei can’t help but snicker, and Murray joins in, until they’re both guffawing in the back of the car. 

They finally reach the Fun Fair, and Fat Rambo demands that they stay in the car. 

He and Murray decide to be productive, and go over the plan one more time, this time outside of the small car. 

“Then it’s over?”

Alexei for the longest time has only had science. 

Mama loved him, but he was taken away at an early age. 

He was alone because of his behavior throughout school, and was sent to Siberia to work on a project designed to fail.

But now?

Now, Alexei has the chance to live.

Sascha was wrong. Hawkins has just as many lights as the other cities.

He smiles over at the bright lights from the carnival and nods back at Murray. 

“And I become an American citizen and join in the fun, yes?” 

Murray gives him a small smile and grabs his shoulder.

“Who said you had to be an American to join the fun?”

He and Murray enter the carnival, and Alexei can’t help look around his surroundings in wonder. 

There’s children everywhere, screaming and running, and large machines are transporting people through the air. There’s the smell of something sickly sweet wafting through the air, and the hum of conversations from every direction. 

He’s trying to latch onto what Murray was saying, but he couldn’t get past the idea that this magnificent place was rigged. 

Russia? That was rigged. 

Moving to Siberia? Rigged.

Meeting Murray, and going to this festival? Definitely not rigged.

Murray gives him these tickets to play, and leaves to go find food. 

Alexei walks around, the lights catching his attention with every step, and he plays a few before settling on the balloon pop game. 

He’s developed a crowd, his keen eye for aim (partially due to doing the math before he throws) allowing him to move quickly from game to game.

He’s focused on this one, the balloon pop, and only has one more to go before he can get the big plush bird from the cartoons. 

He takes a deep breath, and throws it, and it pops the final green balloon!

Alexei stands up and cheers, receiving high fives from all the children around him. 

He’s got his prize, so he heads towards where the food was, his nose guiding him.

He spots Murray before the other man spots him, and he calls him over. 

“Murray, look!” he waves the Woody plush around, “it is not rigged!”

Murray laughs in response and does a victory dance with him, and Alexei walks towards him. 

Before he can reach the man, Grigori intercepts him.

There’s nothing Alexei can say, the man has a gun pointed at him and has shot before he can even move. 

The world slows, and his ears are ringing. The flashing lights have turned painful, and Murray is at his side before he knows it, half carrying him to an alley. 

Murray forgets that he doesn’t understand English, because he gives Alexei his shirt to press on the wound and tells him something, but Alexei doesn’t understand. 

He’s alone, the joyful music, laughter, and lights still surrounding him, and there’s really only one thought that goes through his head as his chest heaves for the last time.

Maybe life is rigged, after all. 


End file.
